‘The playwright’s deceptive ease of manner concealed a man burning with the sense of life, who communicated freely only to the great, dark, faceless audience of the theatre.’ (Karsh)

Many of Tennessee William’s plays are set in the South where he was born and raised. His first success was The Glass Menagerie in 1944 followed in 1947 by A Streetcar Named Desire (Vivien Leigh starred in the film version), which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1948. His plays feature strong passions and family tensions and explore the loneliness and isolation of mankind. Further successful dramatic plays came later such as The Rose Tattoo of 1951 (the film adaptation starred Anna Magnani and Burt Lancaster), Suddenly Last Summer (1958) and The Night of the Iguana (1961). Although principally known as a playwright, he also wrote poetry and fiction.